Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

So I still haven’t made it back home so I haven’t had a chance to dig into the data living on my home music server about what I listened to in 2023, but here’s my first crack at a top ten list for the year. 1 “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” by The National. Was there any chance in the world this album wasn’t making this list? With most of the band off doing independent projects (notably Matt Berninger’s solo album and Dessner’s work with T-Swizzle), I’ve been a little apprehensive about the length of time it’s been since 2019’s excellent “I Am Easy To Find”. I didn’t need to be. This album is stellar, front to back. In particular, “Ice Machines” is a true throwback to the Boxer era (my favorite of their albums), and “Your Mind is Not Your Friend Again” has lived in my subconscious for months.  “Lahai” by Sampha. I first heard Sampha’s “Like the Piano” on Roon Radio when it came up a couple of times in one day, and I’ve been absolutely obsessed with that track since. This album i...

  [ [ MSRP $250 , $199 on direct from Status on Father’s Day sale] [ Tl;dr:  These headphones are really inconsistent in sound quality; they sound amazing for some tracks and genres, and pretty lousy for others. The biggest problem with them is that they’re in the same price bracket as some really exceptional offerings that they just can’t really compete with. When they’re good they’re great; when they’re not, they’re really not, and I am clearly not their target audience (though they’re marketing pretty hard to me, all the same).] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 6 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 3 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  Four or five people have asked me about these as I’ve posted various reviews of true wireless earbuds over the last few months and I’ve been seeing their ads a lot, so I decided to give them a shot when I saw them on a pretty decent (20% off) sale right before Father’s Day. Depending on what you listen to and how you listen, these may be right up your alley. ...

[ MSRP $249.99, purchased at full price in May from Campfire.com)] [ Tl;dr:  These are fanstastic headphones. Period. For me, their use case is a little more limited but that’s more a function of how unexpectedly great the AirPods Pro 2 is, and the number of niche headphones I have for specific use cases. I commend these to the attention of anyone looking for a premium pair of true wireless ear buds, especially if they’re not already locked into the Apple ecosystem.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 9 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 8 out of 10 Denalis   Intro.  I’ve been intrigued by Campfire Audio for a long time. They’re a Portland-based manufacturer that is best known for pretty universally-acclaimed wired in-ear monitors (IEMs). I’ve never owned a pair, mostly because I’m not the biggest fan of IEMs for most of my use cases (preferring open-backed cans or speakers where usable, and preferring the convenience of wireless where not). When I heard that Campfire was releasing a...

[ December 2025 Pricing: $139 with updated Magsafe Case at Costco . May be cheaper elsewhere; I'm a little skeptical of some posted prices actually being the 3rd Gen and not the second.] [December 2025 update: I won a pair of these as a door prize at a conference, and I’ve been using them pretty regularly while walking Denali a couple of times a day since September. I was perhaps … uncharitable in my original review.  I stand by most of the specifics in my review, but they do sort of hit the sweet spot for listening to podcasts or NPR in an environment where you want to hear the world around you. For me, I find that walking Denali with ANC on can result in me not nearing or seeing people or dogs walking around, and that can give some folks a bit of a fright (weirdly enough, not everyone wants to be accosted by a 65-lb golden lovebug when they’re not expecting it. I mean, they’re wrong, but they are allowed to be).  As I noted in the original review, the mid-range is where th...

[ MSRP $180 , purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) and renewed for $109. These are the open-backed version of the DT 770 Pro (MSRP $160). Available in 80 and 250 Ohm versions.] [ Tl;dr: I really like these headphones. They’re not headphone I’ll carry around with me, but I’m pretty sure they’ve dethroned the Massdrop x. Sennheiser 6XX as my go-to/daily driver at my desk in my home office. They greatly benefit from external amplification, but they’re even pretty acceptable sounding with a cheap iPhone dongle. Color me impressed, especially at the price.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis Intro. I picked up the DT770 Pro (the closed back version of these) when I started a new job that required me to be in the office a lot (mid-pandemic). I particularly wanted them to be able to block out a lot of office noise, and they worked pretty well and I mostly liked the sound. However, unless I’m in a super noisy environment or a comple...